Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Towards a multi-scale approach for an Earth observation based assessment of natural resource exploitation in conflict regions

Environment and natural resources can be key elements in starting and fueling conflicts. IPIS researcher Filip Hilgert contributed to an article in Geocarto International (2017, vol. 32, n° 10) on a multi-scale approach for an Earth observation based assessment of natural resource exploitation in conflict regions. Download the full article Elisabeth Schoepfer, Kristin Spröhnle, Olaf Kranz, Xavier

Artisanal Gold Monitoring Pilot (2017)

With the support of the Public Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade (PPA), IPIS set up its Artisanal Gold Monitoring Pilot in Mambasa (Ituri Province, DRC) between April 2016 and July 2017. This involved developing a low-cost methodology to produce a continuous data flow on a wide range of indicators related to the operational, security and human rights context of artisanal gold mining.

Conflict Minerals in Eastern DRC (2017)

Printing maps of conflict minerals in Eastern DRC.

Maps of Mining Sites in North Kivu (2017)

North Kivu Province – AO Map Lubero, Oicha, Butembo and Beni Territories – A0 Map     Masisi Territory – A0 Map Masisi Territory, North Kivu Province, DRC Masisi Territory, North Kivu Province, DRC (Detail) Rutshuru Territory – A0 Map   Rutshuru Territory, North Kivu Province, DRC Rutshuru Territory, North Kivu Province, DRC (Detail)   Walikale Territory – A0 Map   Walikal

Voix du Congo: Study on the use of mercury and cyanide in artisanal gold mining in North and South Kivu

See our series: VOIX DU CONGO   This publication, by “Save Act Mine” SAM, presents a study on gold mining techniques in Eastern DRC. In these regions, the subsoil is very rich in minerals. Although this represents enormous potential for the economy, it also leads to particularly dangerous challenges such as environmental pollution and the degradation of the health status of local populations

Voix du Congo: Artisanal miners and surrounding communities, victims of the security and justice services in South Kivu, eastern DRC

See our series: VOIX DU CONGO     This publication, by the non-profit organisation “Association Africaine de Défense des Droits de l’Homme” ASADHO, focuses on human rights violations carried out by members of the DRC’s armed forces in the mining sector in the South Kivu Province. Several violations are regularly committed by the Congolese armed forces, either in operation or when deploye

Voix du Congo: Sexual exploitation of underage girls in the mining areas of South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo

See our series VOIX DU CONGO   This publication, by the non-profit association “Centre pour l’Education, Animation et Défense des Droits de l’Homme” CEADHO, presents a research on the sexual exploitation of underage girls in mining areas in South Kivu. The sexual exploitation of underage girls in mining areas is an increasingly recurrent phenomenon in South Kivu and is taking on a more w

Artisanal Gold Monitoring Pilot – Progress reports

With the support of the Public Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade (PPA), IPIS set up its Artisanal Gold Monitoring Pilot in Mambasa (Ituri Province, DRC) between April 2016 and July 2017. The findings of the research are summarized in three progress reports, which can be found below, and a final monitoring report, which can be found here. Progress report August – September 2016  

Arms Trade Corridors to Burundi

Burundi has seen a period of unrest following the failed coup d’état by a Burundian general in May 2015. In order to better understand the situation, IPIS drafted a new map entitled ‘Arms transport to Burundi’, which puts the 2015 unrest in the geographical perspective of the Great Lakes region and in the relevant timeframe covering 2008 to 2015. The map highlights two important factors in the rec

Comprendre la spirale de la violence au Kasaï (2017)

Le Kasaï Central et trois autres provinces voisines sont en proie à des violences mêlant miliciens, policiers et soldats et ayant fait, selon un rapport récent des Nations Unies, plus de 200 morts. Depuis septembre, un soulèvement des partisans du chef coutumier Kamwina Nsapu, tué en août par les forces de l’ordre après s’être rebellé contre les autorités congolaises, a embrasé la région. L’ONU a

Pillage route: l’économie politique des barrages routiers à Walikale et Masisi (2017)

  French version below – version française ci-dessous Roadblocks are a ubiquitous phenomenon in Eastern Congo. In an effort to map the scope of this phenomenon as well as its significance in the political economy of conflict, IPIS has embarked on a collaboration with the Danish Institute for International Studies. The point of departure is that control over the circulation of people and valua

North Kivu Province – A0 Map

Map of Ituri

Province of Ituri, DRC (Detail)    

South Kivu Province – A0 Map

South Kivu Province, DRC (Detail)

Map of Mambasa Territory

Territory of Mambasa, Province of Ituri, DRC (Detail)

Analysis of the interactive map of artisanal mining areas in eastern DR Congo – 2015 update

The Belgian research group IPIS has collected data on 2026 artisanal mining sites in eastern DRC over the last couple of years. IPIS observed an armed presence in more than half of the mines. In an interactive map, updated in 2015, IPIS provides information about the on-site presence of armed groups and the Congolese army (FARDC) as well as indicators of the relative importance of the site. It als

Third Party Review of the Bisie Security Report

The so-called ‘Bisie Mineral Stock’ encompasses about 1,000 tons of cassiterite, extracted by artisanal miners at Bisie mines between November 2010 and June 2015. A number of bans on mining and mineral trade in this region, as well as some hesitance further down the supply chain to buy untagged minerals, meant that mineral production was not marketed, but stored in warehouses. From 2014 onwards, n

Coloured gemstones in eastern DRC: Tourmaline exploitation and trade in the Kivus

Responsible sourcing efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to date have focused predominantly on the so-called 3TG (tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold) sector. Nevertheless, the artisanal exploitation of other minerals including semi-precious gemstones, such as tourmaline, can also make notable contributions to local livelihoods […]

Extractive Orders: a political geography of public authority in Ituri, DR Congo

Public authority is an essentially contested concept in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Not only is the ‘state of the state’ subject to profound disagreement in academic debates, but public authority on the ground is also the focal point of heated contestation. While some argue that the DRC does not exist as a state from the perspective of normative understandings of statehood, others argu

Mineral supply chains and conflict links in eastern democratic republic of congo

Between 2009 and 2010 IPIS collected data on over 550 mining sites as part a conflict mapping exercise focusing on Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). With the collaboration of Congolese researchers, IPIS collected the coordinates of the most important mining sites and information on on-site security in North and South Kivu provinces, Maniema, Northern Katanga and southeast Province Orient